It was the thunder, crashing and rolling in the sky, that woke Rusty. A flash of lightening lit the room and he noticed the time was four o’clock in the morning. It had been raining when the Jones family went to bed. Out of the window he could see the rain driving down, whipping the window pane. He knew there would be flooding in the morning and worried what would happen at the beaver dam with all this extra water flowing into the pond. As he turned over to try and go to sleep again, he thought he must take a run up in the morning and see how the beavers were doing.
There was to be no sun shining that morning. As the Jones family sat around the breakfast table, Hawkeye voiced the thoughts of them all, “Looks like we’d had a bad night. The creek is flooded quite badly and I am a little worried about that beaver dam. Why don’t we take a walk up and see how our friends are doing?”
Clearing away the dishes quickly, Rainbow, Bubbles and Rusty donned their rubber boots and raincoats. Soon they were walking up the trail. The drips from the branches of the trees, running down their necks, made them all very wet. When they arrived at the dam they saw immediately that the torrential rains had been too much. The dam nearest the creek had given way. Water was gushing through, cutting a deep channel in the creek below.
“Look father,” said Rusty, “the dam is broken. What can we do to help?”
“I don’t think we’ll have to do anything to help, Rusty,” said Hawkeye. “Let’s sit down on the rock over there and watch carefully. The water is still pretty high in the pond. I think, when the water drops to normal level, we’ll see our friends come out and begin to repair that dam.”
It was perhaps half an hour later, when the water had gone down several inches, that Bubbles noticed the first beaver. Just like a little engineer, the beaver seemed to be exploring the damage, testing here and there. Soon he was joined by several others, all members of the same family. They began to work together. Soon the flow of water out of the pond began to lessen as twig and log seemed to fit into a jigsaw puzzle to bring the dam together again. There was no stopping the beavers. Work was a necessity but also an enjoyment to them.
“I know why they’re called ‘eager beavers’, said Rusty.
“Yes,” laughed Hawkeye, “that’s a good way to describe them.”
“Look at that little kit over there,” said Rainbow. “What’s a kit?” asked Bubbles.
“Why, dear, a kit is what a baby beaver is called, but I think that soon one is going to be called an ‘eager beaver’. Hi is learning how to be really useful.”
At last the dam was repaired. Tired but satisfied, the beavers drew a big breath of air and dived to the bottom of the pond where the doorway to their beaver house was located. Up through the tunnel they went until they reached the inside, safe and warm. They new that deep within their beaver house they were safe from all invaders and intruders and, with the dam repaired, everything was returning to normal.
Back up on the bank of the pond, Rusty was beginning to get an idea.
“Say, Bubbles,” he said, “why don’t we try and build our own little beaver house? It could be our secret hideaway. We could build it out behind the cottage, beside the big elm tree.”
Bubbles said that was a terrific idea.
And, as they started back towards the cottage, the two children began to talk and plan how to make their own beaver house. Sure, it was going to be on land, but they were determined it was going to be strong, sturdy and safe, like a real beaver house should be.